Japanese Expressions

This is a quick guide to some words and expressions which are useful in daily life in Japan. They are written in romaji (roman letters) as many computers are not equipped to read Japanese script.

The Japanese counting system is too complex to explain here in full. Given below are the cardinal numbers, which are combined with various counters to count objects or people. For example, otoko san-nin means three men, hon san-satsu means three books and san-ji means three o'clock. There is also a set of numbers, from one to ten, for counting objects without using counters.

(Spelling note: on this site in general, I have spelled Japanese names and words in a way that I hope is most easily understood by non-Japanese speakers. It is difficult to be consistent to any standard system without having an explanatory note of Japanese pronunciation on every page. I do plan to add one to this section, though. In short, there are inconsistencies so please be understanding. If you have any queries on these things, please feel free to drop me a line and I'll try to help)